The Impact of Complex Trauma and Depression on Parenting: An Exploration of Mediating Risk and Protective Factors

Abstract

The current study examined (a) maternal depression as a mediator between mothers' complex trauma exposure and parenting difficulties and (b) protective factors within a sample of adult survivors of complex child and adult trauma. Participants were a sample of 152 women selected from 174 women interviewed in the third wave of a longitudinal study of a hospital sample of girls. The women in the current study represent a subsample that includes all participants who had given birth to a child. Measures included assessments of women's own trauma history and parenting outcomes. Higher rates of trauma exposure were related to decreased parenting satisfaction, reports of child neglect, use of physical punishment, and a history of protective service reports. These links were partially mediated by the relationship between trauma exposure and increased maternal depression. Exploratory analyses were also conducted to examine protective factors for fewer parenting problems within a further subsample of trauma survivors.

Department

Psychology

Publication Date

11-2003

Journal Title

Child Maltreatment

Publisher

Sage Publications

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1177/1077559503257106

Document Type

Article

Rights

© 2003 Sage Publications

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